Colin Jones (historian)

Colin David Hugh Jones CBE FRHistS FBA FLSW (born 12 December 1947) is a British historian of France and professor of history at Queen Mary University of London.

Jones attended Hampton Grammar School. He then studied at Jesus College, Oxford, 1967–71, where he obtained a first-class honours degree in modern history and modern languages (French) and St Antony's College, Oxford, from where he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1978.

He began working as a temporary lecturer in history at Newcastle University, 1972–73 before moving on to the University of Exeter, where he remained until 1995. He was then appointed professor of history in the history department of the University of Warwick, where he stayed until 2006.

He is known especially for his Paris, Biography of a City, which won the Enid MacLeod Prize of the Franco-British Society as the book published in 2004 which contributed most to Anglo-French understanding.

Jones was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to historical research and higher education. In 2015, Jones was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.